Safety device for conveyer mechanisms



Dec. 23,1924. 1,520,000

RE. BAKER ET AL SAFETY DEVICE FOR COIEYER HECHANISMS Original FiledMarch 21, 1.917 2 Sheets-Sheet l IX 23 Z7 Z9 16 ff 4 36 Dec. 23, 1924.1,520,000

l R. E.' BAKER ET AL SAFETY DEVICE FOR CONVEYER MECBANISMS lOriginalFiled llarch 21, 19.137.A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'reame-d Dee 23, .1924. n1,520,000

UNITED sTATEs- PATENT OFFICE.

:ROBERTV ELMER BAKER, F BRONXVILLE, AND ARTHUR FRANCIS CUMMINS, 0I'WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, AND EARDLEY- HARRY FORD, OF LOS ANGELES, CALI- IFORNIA, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 JOSEPH BAKER SONS PER- SKINSCOMPANY, INC., 0F WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR CONVEYER MECHANISHB.

Original application led March 21, 1917, Serial No. 156,275. Divided andthis application illed November 12, 1920. .Serial No. 423,728.

To all/whom t may concern# This ap lication is a division of an ap- Beit known that we, ROBERT ELMER lication or Letters Patent of the UnitedBAKER, a resident of Bronxville, in the countates, filed by us March 2l,1917, Serial No. ty of Westchester and State of New York, 156,275, whichhas matured into Letters 5 ARTHUR FRANCIS CUMMINs, formerl of Patent No.1,412,444 dated April 11, 1922. 65

Nutley, in the county of Essex and tate For the better explanation ofour invenof New Jersey, butnow a resident of White tion, we will nowproceed to describe in de- Plains, in the county` of Westchester andtail a typical embodiment thereof, as repre- State of New Yorli, and`EARDLEY HARRY sented in the accompanying drawings, in FORD, formerly ofBrooklyn, in the county which Fig. 1 is an end elevat1on of a portion 60of Kings, city and State of New York, but of the proving chamber withp-art of the now a resident of Los Angeles, in the county conveyer, ofthe discharge device, and of the of Los Angeles and. State ofCalifornia, driving arrangement; Fig. 2 is a side elevaall threesubjects of the King of Great. Brittion, with parts in section, showingchiefly ain, have jointly invented certain new and the arrangement ofthe discharge device 65 useful Improvements in Safety Devfiees for andof its drive; Fig. 3 is a partial vertical Conveyer Mechanisms, of whichthe followsection, taken substantially on the plane ining is aspecification. dicated by the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, but with Ourinvention relates to safety devices for certain parts in a differentposition; and

use in conjunction with conveyer mechanism Fig. 4 is a detail sectionalview showing, 70 co-operatingwith a dischargedevice, and is upon anenlarged scale, certain parts indidesigned particularly for use inmachines cated at the rlght-hand portion' of Fig. 3, for proving doughbefore bakin it. In together with the electrical connections and thetype of proving machine to w ich our appliances for controlling thedrive of the invention is intended to be applied pridischarge device andof the conveyer. 75 marily,conveyers are employed for carrying In Fig. 2we have indicated at 10 one through the proving chamber, the trays, ofthe walls of the provinof chamber, with tins, or other containers inwhich the dough an opening 11 through whic the trays, tins, has beenplaced, and at the outlet of said or other containers 12 are adapted tobe chamber, such containers are removed from pushed out of said chamber,to reach a table so the conveyer by a discharge device operating orsupport 13, by the action ofthe discharge transversely of the conveyerpath. The device designated, in its entirety, by the letsafety devicewhich forms the subject-matter A. These containers 12 travel through terof our present application is employed the proving chamber, beingcarried therein connection with the discharge mechanism through by aconveyer which may beY of any g5 to insure a stoppage of the entiremachine suitable construction and therefore need (and particularly-ofthe conveyer) in the not be described in det-ail herein. The conevent ofan obstructions interfering with tainers 12 rest on carriers 14,connected with the proper operation of 'the discharge dethe conveyer insuch a manner as to keep the y 40 vica This safety device preferablyconcarriers and containers horizontal during 90 sists of a pin or othermember adapted to their travel. Thus, the carriers may be segive readilyin case of an abnormal strain, cured rigidly to rods 15 connected by.cranks and forming part of the driving means of 16 on short shafts 17which Aare also prosaid discharge mechanism. We also prefer vided withother cranks 18 engaging stato provide a supplementary device, generallytionary lguides 19. The shafts 17 form the 95 operated electrically, forinsuring, under the pivot connections of the conveyer chains 20,circumstances referred to above, not only a guided and supported atsuitable points by stoppage of the discharge mechanism, but a suitableparts, amon which are the driving stoppage of its drive as well, and ofthe sprockets 21 mounte rigidly on the shaft 22.

I0 'drive of the conveyer. This shaft also carries a gear Wheel 23, in-100 mesh with a pinion 24 on a shaft 25, which also carries a gearwheel 26 in mesh with a pinion `27 on a shaft 28. This shaft alsocarries a ear wheel 29, meshing with a gear 30 on a s aft 31, said gear30 being also in mesh with a pinion 32 on a shaft 33, which is driveninfany suitable manner, but preferably by means of an electric motor,indicated at 34.

At 35 we have indicated guides, adapted to be engaged by portions o theconveyers, say by rollers 36 mounted loosely on the conveyer pivots 17,to 'steady the conveyer laterally adjacent to the outlet 11, agalnst thepushing action of the discharge device A. which operates transversely ofthe path of the longitudinally-moving conveyer. The tins or othercontainers 12, when brought into registry with the opening 11 by themovement of the conveyer, are arrested by stationary lingers or supports37, and as it were lifted off said carriers (see F ig. 2), whereupon thedischarge device will push such containers from the supports 37 throughthe opening 11 and transfer them to the table or other support 13; thissupport might be a conveying belt from which the containers. 12 wouldpass to the baking oven (not shown). The detail construction of thedischarge device is set forth more fully in another application filed byus simultaneously herewith, Serial No. 423,722, and a brief descriptionwill suilice at this point: On the shaft 28 is secured rigidly asprocket wheel 38,con nected by a. chain 39 with a larger sprocket 40 onthe main shaft 41 of the discharge device, the connection of said shaft41 with its sprocket 40 being rigid under ynormal conditions. The shaft41 is journaled in standards 42, and carries rigidly a mutilated gear43, meshing at times with a mutilated inion. 44 rigidly secured to acounter-sha t 4,5, so that an intermittent motion is imparted to saidcounter-shaft during a continuous motion of 'themain shaft 41,corresponding to the continuous travel of the conveyer. On thecounter-shaft 45 is further secured rigidly a. disk 46 from whichprojects a crank pin 47 entendincr loosely through a slide 48 movable inan out along a radial guide Way 449' of atoothed sector 49 which ismounted loosely on the main shaft 41, so that it may rock thereon. Thissector is in mesh with a pinion 50, mounted rigidly on a shaft 51 whichextends across the machine and also carries rigidly, two pinions 52 inmesh with racks 53 suitably guided in the standards 42, to slide towardsand from the discharge opening 11. These two racks are connected attheir forward vor outerl ends by a cross bar or pusher 54 of such lengthand position that it may pass between the two chains of the provingconveyer. Fig.

2 shows the pusher in its inner or retracted position.l It will beunderstood that the mutilated gears 43, 44 will produce an in termittentoperation of the pusher, and this 4should be so proportioned in time tothe continuous motion of the traveling con- (conveyer) might result inseriousdf injury to the mechanism. As a safety device to prevent suchinjury, we have provided a f yielding connection and certain otherinstrumentalities which, in the specific embodiment illustrated, areconstructedias folloWs:-The sprocket 40, while normally held to turnwith the main shaft 41, may become loose or free under certainconditions, since its connection with a collar 41', rigid with the`shaft 41, is effected through the medium of a pin 55 having a weakenedportion, so that while the pin is strongv enough to transmit thepowernormally vrequired for the operation of the pusher, such pin will breakif for any reason the resistance to the movement of the pusher becomesabnormal. Thus, should a container fall off the conveyer and becomewedged or otherwise lodged in the path of the pusher so as to interferewith its operation, or should any other obstruction be- `co1ne lodgedeither in the ath of the pusher or of any member of its riving mechanismshown in Fig. 3, the pin 55 will break, and the drive of the pusher willbe arrested', so that the pusher (or the jammed member of its drivingmechanism) will no longer be pressed against the obstruction, and thusan injury which might result to the'pusher and possibly to the conveyer,will be avoided.

Wealso consider it advisable that in the vevent of the breaking of thepin 55, the motive power should be disconnected not only from the pusherbut from the proving conveyer as well, thus stopping the latter, andguarding against the possibility of injury to the conveyer should itcontinue to travel while an obstruction is lodged not only in the pathof the pusher, but in that of the'conveyer as well, this being the placewhere obstructions are most likely to lodge. j For the purpose of thusstoppin" the con@ veyer, we have illustrated the followin arrangement: Apin 56, mounted to sli e in .the sprocket 40 in a direction arallel tothe shaft 41, isipressed by acoi ed spring 57 toward the collar 41', andas long as the pin 55 is unbroken, that is to sa under normal drivingconditions, one en of said pin 56 is pressed by said spring into a smallsocket in the collar 41', so that an elastic contact member 56 carriedby the other end 'of said pin 56 will be out of engagement with twoinsulated rings 58, 59 which are stationary. When the pin 55 breaks thesprocket 40, becomingdoose on the shaft 41, will continue toebe turnedfor a while by the chain 39, and this rotation of the sprocketrelatively tol the collar 41 (which has stopped owing to the jamming ofthe pusher or of its driving mechanism) will force the one end of theIpin 56 out of its socket in the collar 41 and bring the `contact member56 against the stationary this magnet would normally, under theinfluence of a spring 65, close the circuit 66 of the electric motor 34,but when attracted by the magnet upon the energizing of the latter bythe member 56 coming against the contact rings 58, 59, the armature 64would open said circuit 66 and cause the motor 34 to stop. As themomentum of the conveyer might keep it in motion for a short time,causing the sprocket 40 to revolve for a few revolutions after the pin55 had become broken, the pin 56 would at each of these revolutions fora moment reach the position shown in Fig. 4 and cause the circuit of thecoil 63 to become interrupted. This would tend to allow the armature 64to swing back to the circuit-closing position indicated by full lines inFig. 4, so that the motor 34 would receive a shortl current impulse,tending to throw the apparatus in motion, in a jerky fashion. To avoidthis, we have shown a hook catch 67, fulcrumed at 67 and normally pulledagainst a stop 68 by a spring 69.l When the armature 64 is attractedagainst the stop 70, the catch 67 yields to let the armature pass, andthen snaps back to lock the armature in the position 'indicated bydotted lines, so that said armature cannot swing back to thecircuitclosing position when the coil 63 is temporarily currentless, asdescribed above. Gf course, the hook lcatch 67 would also hold .thearmature 64 in the circuit-breaking position in the unlikely but notimpossible event of the sprocket 40 stopping (after the breaking of thepin 55) in a position in which the pin 56 would register exactly with,and enter, the socket in the collar 41', so that the circuit energizinthe coil 63 would remain interrupted. T e motor-controlling circuit 66will therefore remain open after the breaking of the pin 55.

en proper repairs have been completed,` and a new pin 55 has beensubstituted for the broken one, the operator would lift the hook end ofthe catch 6T, allowing the armature 64 to be returned to its normal,circuitclosing position, by the action of the spring 65. The armature64may control a motor other than an electric motor.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature ofour invention as set forth in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. ln a convyer mechanism, a conveycr,

stoppage of the discharge device resulting from the breakage of saidmember, for arresting the drive of the conveyer. p

2. In a conveyermechanism, a conveyer, a discharge device movablerelatively to said conveyer to remove articles therefrom, drivingmechanism for said conveyer, a

lll() yielding drive for said discharge device, to 4 allow said deviceto stop in the event of its meeting an obstruction, and means, operatedby the movement of said yielding drive caused by the -stoppage of thedischarge device, for arresting the driving mechanism of the conveyer.

3. The combination of driving means, an operated device, a connectionfor transmitting power from said driving means to said operateddevice,said connection including a weakened member adapted to break if saiddevice is stopped by an obstruction, a circuitcloser adapted to bebrought from the open position to the closing position when saidweakened member breaks, and a stop device, controlled electrically bythe operation of said circuit-closer, for shutting off said drivingmeans.

4. The combination of driving means, an operated device, a connectionfor transmitting power from said driving means to said operated device,said connection including a weakened member adapted to break if saiddevice is stopped by an "obstruction, and electrically-controlled kmeansfor shutting off said driving means when said weakened l'member breaks.

an operated device, a connection for transmitting power from said motorto said device, said connection including a weakened member adapted tobreak if said device 1s stopped by an obstruction, a. switch controllingthe sup ly of current to said motor, and means, a a ted to be broughtinto operation by the breaking of said weakened member, for bringingsaid switch to the open position.

6. The combination of an electric motor, an operated device, aconnection for transmitting power from said motor to said device, saidconnection including a weakened member adapted to break if said deviceis stopped by an obstruction, a switch controlling the supply of currentto said motor, and constructed of magnetizable material, anelectro-magnet for which said switch forms an armature, and aAc1rcuit-closure in circuit with a source of electricity and with saidelectro-magnet, and adapted to be moved automatically to thecircuit-closing position when the said weakened member breaks, to throwthe switch to the open position.

7. The combination of driving means, an operated device, a connectionfor transmitting power from saiddriving means to said operated device,said-connection including two adjacent rotary members and a pinconnecting them and having a weakened portion adapted to break when themechanism encounters unusual resistance, and a device, brought intooperation by the turning of one of said rotary membersv relatively tothe other, upon the breaking of the pin, for shutting oif said drivingmeans.

8. The combination of driving means, an operated device, 'a connectionfor transmitting power from said driving means to said operated device,said connection including two co-axial rotary members and a connectingmember normally compelling them to move in unison, said connectingmember having a weakened portion adapted to break when the mechanismencounters unusual resistance, and a device, brought into operation bythe relative turning movement of said rotary members which ensuesiuponthe breaking of said connecting member, for shutting off said drivingmeans.

9. The combination of drivin means, an operated device, a connection ortransmitting power from said driving means to said operated device, said.connection ineluding two co-axial rotary members and a connectingmember normally compelling them to move in unison, said connectin memberhaving a weakened portion a apted to break when the mechanism encountersunusual resistance, a circuit-closing member movably carried by one ofsaid rotary members, means brought into operation by the relativeturning movement of said rotary members which ensues upon the breakingof said connecting member, for causing said circuit-closing member tomove relatively to the rotary member on which it is carried, and means,operated by such movement of the circuit-closing member, for shuttingoff said driving means.

10. The combination of driving means, an operated device,a connectionfor transmittin power from said driving means to sai operated device,said connection including two co-axial rotary members and a connectingmember normally compelling them to move in unison, said connectingmember having a weakenedportion adapted to break when the mechanismencounters unusual resistance, a circuit-closing member carried by oneof said rotary members and'mounted to i slide thereon lengthwise of theaxis of rotation, a spring for pressing said circuitclosing membertoward the other rotar. member and normally into a recess thereoi,whereby, upon the Ibreaking of the weakened connecting membcr, theturning of one rotary member relatively to the other will force the saidcircuit-closing member out of its socket and move it lengthwise of theaxis of rotation and means, operated v by such longitudinal movement ofsaid circuit-closing member, for shutting off said driving means.

11. The combination of driving means, an operated device, a connectionfor transmitting power from said driving means to said operated de'vice,said connection including two co-axial rotary members and a connectingmember normally compelling them to move in unison, said connectin memberhaving a weakened portion adapted to break when the mechanism encountersunusual resistance, a circuit-closing member mounted to slide on one ofsaid rotary members lengthwise of the axis of rotation, Said memberhaving two contact-making portions, stationary insulated contact rinadapted to be engaged by said contact-ma ing portions, a spring tendinto press the circuit-closing member towar the'other rotary member and tonormally hold said contact-making portions away fromtheir contact rings,said other rotary member having an actuating surface en aging a portionof the circuit-closing member and adapted to force said memberlengthwise of the axis of rotation and into engagement with said contactrings, by the relative turning movement of such rotary members whichensues upon the breakin of said weakened connecting member, an means,operated when said circuit-closing member engages said contactrings, forshutting off said driving means.

12. In a conveyer mechanism, a conveyer, a discharge device movablerelatively to said conveyer, driving mechanism for said conveyer a drivefor said discharge device comprising a pair of relatively movablemembers, a member, adapted to give Way readily in case of an abnormalstrain, connecting said pair 0f members t0 cause them to move normallyin unison, and means operated by relative mvement of said members forarresting the drive of said conveyer.

In testimony whereof We havev signed this 10 specification.

ROBERT ELMER BAKER.- ARTHUR FRANCIS CUMMIN S. EARDLEY HARRY FORD.

